


Too Gay to Function

by gluupor



Series: Andreil Week 2018 [8]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Mean Girls Fusion, Andreil Week 2018, M/M, Prompt: Free choice, Seriously All for the Game is already a subtle Mean Girls AU, just with more sports and murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-05-31 10:23:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15117395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gluupor/pseuds/gluupor
Summary: After school, Neil started to make the trek back to his uncle’s house when a shiny, black beast of a car screeched to a halt in front of him.The driver’s side window rolled down. “Get in, loser,” said Andrew. “We’re going shopping.”





	Too Gay to Function

**Author's Note:**

> And that's the last one! Thank you to Sheila, An, and Nea, the organizers of [Andreil Week](http://andreilweek.tumblr.com/). I had a lot of fun! Prompt: Free choice.

"Okay," said Neil's uncle Stuart, sounding incredibly nervous. "I've given you money for lunch. I've written my phone number on this piece of paper, so if you need me for anything you can call me. Anything at all. If you get scared or lost, just find the nearest teacher and they can help you out. Do you think you're ready?" 

"Sure," said Neil. "How hard can school be?" 

Stuart wrung his hands together and then pulled Neil into an incredibly awkward hug. "Okay, big guy. Get in the car. Time for your first day of school!" 

Most children, Neil knew, had their first days of school when they were quite young. Conversely, he was sixteen and had been homeschooled up until this point; his mother's job kept her moving from place to place. She'd decided that Neil had to be properly socialized, though, and had send him to live with her brother in South Carolina so that Neil could attend high school. 

Stuart dropped Neil off in front of Palmetto High and hurriedly blurted out another couple pieces of last minute advice on how to fit in. 

"Don't have sex," Stuart warned, just before Neil slammed the car door. "Because you will get chlamydia. And die." 

Neil waved him off and, taking a deep breath, took his first steps into normality. 

Someone knocked him off balance almost instantly, but he recovered quickly, making his way into the imposing building and finding his way to the main office. The secretary was helpful, giving him directions to his homeroom where he'd get his schedule and locker assignment. 

No one paid him any attention as he walked through the halls, likely mistaking him for a freshman instead of a junior. He didn't get any incredulous stares until he found his homeroom. 

"You lost, kid?" an imposing man asked from the front of the classroom. 

"Uh, looking for Mr. Wymack, room B78?" said Neil, reading off the paper in his hand. 

"You found him," said the man. "You a junior? How old are you?" 

"Sixteen," replied Neil defensively. 

"Huh," shrugged Mr. Wymack. "Well, take a seat then," he said gesturing to an empty desk. 

Neil sat, trying to ignore the curious stares. 

"You're new," whispered a tall boy from the desk next to him. 

"Yes," said Neil. "I just moved to town." 

"Where did you live before?" 

"All over. My mom's a photojournalist and we moved a lot for her work." 

"Neat," said the boy. "My name's Matt, by the way. Is that your natural hair colour?" He reached out to ruffle Neil's hair. 

"Yes...?" said Neil. 

The girl in front of Matt turned in her seat to join the conversation. "It's really pretty. I'm Dan." 

"Uh, thanks," said Neil. "I'm Neil." 

Mr. Wymack started handing out their schedules. 

"Let me see that," said Matt, taking Neil's schedule off his desk. "English, Biology, Chemistry, ew," he said. "P.E. right after lunch, Spanish, and twelfth grade calculus?" 

"Why are you taking grade twelve calculus?" asked Dan. 

"I like math," said Neil. "It's the same in every country." 

"That's really beautiful," said Matt, placing a hand over his heart. "He's so deep," he stage-whispered to Dan. 

The bell rang not long after that and Matt pointed out the way to Neil's English class. "Find us at lunch!" he called as he headed in the opposite direction. 

Neil's morning classes passed by in a blur, his mind engaged with trying to remember all the seemingly arbitrary rules that the teachers kept spitting out. His skin crawled because of the way he seemed to be the centre of attention - everybody was staring at him and whispering. By the time lunch rolled around, he was glad that he had a clear destination. Grabbing his lunch tray and sitting across from Matt was much easier than trying to find his own place to sit. The lunch tables seemed to be strictly divided and he didn't know enough about the social groupings of the school to choose an appropriate spot. 

"How was your morning?" asked Dan, kindly. 

"Overwhelming," admitted Neil. 

"Well don't worry," said Matt. "We're here to help." 

"Why?" asked Neil. 

"Because we're your friends," said Matt. "Duh." 

"Oh," said Neil, a rush of relief flowing through him. Friends! Somehow he'd managed to make friends. Stuart was going to be very impressed. "Well thank you for telling me where to come for lunch, I would have been lost otherwise." 

"Hmm, yes," said Dan, looking around. "It _is_ very clique-y." She pointed helpfully at the different tables. "You've got your jocks, girl jocks, and cheerleaders, your band geeks, your girls that are trying too hard, your drama kids, your religious nuts, your stoners, your run-of-the-mill nerds, and your omnipresent douchebags. Then there's us, the greatest people you'll ever meet," she smiled at him, and then turned indicating a table in the centre of the cafeteria where four people sat, "and the worst." 

"Who are they?" asked Neil peering curiously. There were two short blond boys, both wearing black, and two tall boys with dark hair and skin a couple shades too dark to be tan. 

"They're called the Monsters," said Matt. "And they rule the roost around here." 

"Huh," said Neil. "My uncle made me watch a bunch of teen movies to get ready for high school. I kinda expected that the popular kids would look like _that_ ," he said pointing to the cheerleaders' table, "not like miniature emo goths." 

Dan chuckled. "Don't let their looks fool you. They are pure concentrated evil. The tallest one is Kevin Day. He's totally rich because his mother invented exy." 

"Exy?" 

"It's a sport, kind of like extra-violent lacrosse," explained Matt. 

"I've never heard of it," admitted Neil. 

"It's apparently big in Japan. Anyway, he only has two interests and he won't give you the time of day except to talk about one of them," said Dan. 

"The Hispanic one is Nicky Hemmick," continued Matt. "He likes to pretend that he's a ditz that can't control what comes out of his mouth, but he knows everything about everyone. It's why his hair is so big. It's full of secrets." 

"The other two are Nicky's cousins," said Dan. 

"Biologically?" asked Neil. 

"Yeah, Nicky's dad is a short blonde guy," continued Matt. "They're twins. Aaron, the one who's always on his phone, doesn't acknowledge anybody outside of the other Monsters. Is he texting? Playing games? No one knows." 

"And their leader is Andrew Minyard, head Monster himself," said Dan. "None of the others do anything without his say-so. Last year one of the jock kids, Riko, tried to recruit Kevin to the soccer team and he ended up breaking most of his bones when he was hit by a school bus." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Rumour is that Andrew pushed him into the bus' path." 

"I heard that Andrew spent three years in juvie for stabbing a guy," said Matt. 

"I heard that he paid for his car using blood money from the mob," put in Dan. 

"He never smiles." 

"He can drink an entire bottle of hard liquor without dying." 

"He punched me in the face once," said Matt. "...It was awesome." 

"Sounds great, Matt," said Neil. 

"Seriously, Neil, keep your distance," warned Dan. "They're not good people." 

* * *

The next day Neil was making his way across the cafeteria when he was accosted by a girl wearing a Palmetto cheerleader uniform. 

"Hi," she said brightly. "New Kid!" 

Neil, who had been called little else for the past two days, rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it was forward thinking of my parents to name me that. It'll be a little awkward when there's an even newer student, though." 

"What?" she asked, perplexed. 

A throat cleared to Neil's left. Turning, he found that he'd been waylaid beside the Monsters’ lunch table. The cheerleader squeaked in distress when she found Andrew's eyes on her. Andrew flicked his fingers dismissively and she made a hasty retreat. Neil turned to leave as well, but Andrew caught his eye and motioned to the empty seat across from him. 

"Sit," he said, his tone brooking no argument. 

Neil sat. Neither Kevin nor Aaron paid him any attention, but Nicky looked up with a wide smile. 

"You're funny, New Kid," said Andrew, without giving any indication that he understood humour at all. "What's your actual name?" 

"Neil." 

"I'm Nicky," said Nicky. "Aaron. Andrew. Kevin." He pointed out the others as he introduced them. "Now please put me out of my misery and say you swing my way? A face like yours would be wasted on the Straights." 

"Oh," said Neil uncomfortably. "No. I don't swing." 

"Like, at all?" asked Nicky. 

"No," confirmed Neil. 

"But, _why_? How can you not swing?" 

"Oh my God, Nicky," muttered Aaron, not looking up from his phone. "You can't just ask people why they don't swing." 

"Why not?" 

"It's, like, rude or whatever." 

"But he's really pretty," protested Nicky. 

"What sports do you play?" Kevin butted in. 

"Uh, none," said Neil. "I like running." 

Kevin heaved a put-upon sigh. "Well, what music do you listen to?" 

"Whatever my mom listens to," said Neil. "Mostly eighties pop." 

Kevin gave him a disgusted look, and proceeded to ignore him, obviously finding Neil not worth his time. 

Andrew hadn't said anything since he'd asked Neil's name, but he was watching him with an intensity that made Neil's skin itch. 

"Where are you from?" he asked. "Your transcripts didn't list your previous school." 

"I was homeschooled," said Neil. "Wait. You've seen my transcripts?" 

"You didn't expect that I'd allow an unchecked threat into my domain, did you?" 

"Can you even hear yourself? This is high school, not a mafia movie." 

Nicky laughed. "He's kidding, Neil, don't worry." 

"Is he," said Neil dryly. 

"Sure," said Andrew. "Like you, I'm a funny guy." 

"You poor thing, homeschooled until now," lamented Nicky. "Don't worry; if you stick with us, you'll be all caught up in no time!" 

"Uh," said Neil. 

"I've got an idea!" said Nicky with enthusiasm. "You should sit with us at lunch for the rest of the week!" 

"Yes, Neil, do," said Andrew, although he made it sound like a threat. 

"On Wednesdays we wear pink," said Nicky happily. 

"Yeah right," said Neil, but he was met with smooth expressions. "Wait, really?" he asked. 

"I guess you'll see," said Andrew in a clear dismissal. 

* * *

"He's trying to poach you!" exclaimed Matt when Neil relayed the conversation that he'd had with the Monsters. 

"I think he's just trying to intimidate me," corrected Neil. 

"But you didn't back down," argued Dan. "That'll be sure to grab his attention." 

"I don't think I want Andrew Minyard's attention," said Neil. 

"Too late," said Matt. 

"Well, it's not like I _have_ to eat with them tomorrow," Neil pointed out. "I could just blow them off." 

"Or…" said Dan thoughtfully. "We've seen this before, with Kevin," she said. "He was friendly with us until he was absorbed into the Monsters' orbit." 

"So?" asked Neil, not sure where she was going with this. 

" _So_ ," she replied, "Andrew's reign of terror can't be toppled without inside help." 

"You want me to spy on them?" asked Neil incredulously. 

"Look, Andrew doesn't let the others do _anything_ ," said Matt. "And Nicky would be a great addition to our GSA, and Kevin really should be on the lacrosse team, and Aaron is smart enough to be in all sorts of nerd clubs. Our school could be so much better!" 

"You just need to find out how we can get Andrew to loosen his control on them," said Dan earnestly. 

"I'm fairly certain I won't be able to influence him in any way." 

"Won't you at least try?" asked Matt beseechingly. 

Neil could feel himself wavering, wanting to please his new friends. "Fine," he sighed. "Do either of you have something pink I could borrow?" 

"No," Dan scoffed at the same time that Matt excitedly cried, "Of course!" 

* * *

The next day found Neil self-consciously sitting at the Monsters' lunch table in a pink polo shirt that hung off him like a tent. Nicky was wearing pink booty shorts and a black tank top with a rainbow on it. Kevin was also in a pink polo shirt, although his was fitted and had a little alligator over his pec. Aaron had on a very light pink button down, and Andrew was dressed all in black. 

Neil raised an eyebrow at him, and he displayed the inside of one of his armbands which had pink flowers embroidered on it. 

"So… pink," said Neil. 

"I know, right?" gushed Nicky. "It was my idea." 

"Shocking," Neil deadpanned. 

"Left to their own devices they'd always be drab, so I came up with colour-coordinated days!" 

"And they just… went along with it?" 

Nicky's smile had a tremulous quality to it. "Yup!" he said. "I came up with the idea right when I'd just returned from a summer camp that my parents sent me to, and I think my cousins missed me! Neither of them protested at all!" 

"Grool," said Neil, then blushed. "I was going to say 'cool' but then started to say 'great'." 

"You're adorable," said Nicky. 

"Fags," a voice muttered from behind Neil. 

"I don't like that word," said Andrew, not looking up. "Don't use it." 

"Can't believe you've already roped the new kid into your pink girls club," the boy continued. 

"Fuck off, Seth," said Kevin. 

"Colours don't have assigned genders," said Neil, looking back at the guy who usually sat with the stoners. 

"None of us want to talk to you," said Nicky. "Go away." 

"You can't tell me what-" 

"Goodbye," said Andrew. 

Seth huffed in annoyance, but left. 

"Does that happen a lot?" asked Neil. "People saying shit about your sexuality?" 

"Sometimes," shrugged Nicky. "It probably would have been easier to stay in the closet, but…" 

"But you're just too fabulous to be contained?" suggested Aaron, sounding longsuffering. 

"Precisely," said Nicky. "So I don't blame you for not wanting to come out," he said to Neil. 

"I already told you, I don't swing," Neil reminded him. 

"From lack of desire or lack of opportunity?" asked Andrew. 

"Either," said Neil. "Both." 

"Well being here should take care of the latter," said Andrew. "You've got enough people interested." 

"What? No I don't." 

"Sure you do," said Nicky. "You're a regulation hottie. You'd look even better if you stopped dressing like the world's littlest hobo, though." 

"Um," said Neil, not quite sure how to respond. 

"Stop hitting on him, Nicky, you're making everyone uncomfortable," said Aaron. 

"Fine," sighed Nicky. "But you can't make me stop picturing him in skinny jeans." 

* * *

After school, Neil started to make the trek back to his uncle's house when a shiny, black beast of a car screeched to a halt in front of him. 

The driver's side window rolled down. "Get in, loser," said Andrew. "We're going shopping." 

Neil climbed into the back seat with Aaron and Nicky, and Andrew peeled his way out of the parking lot. Once they reached the mall, Neil trailed behind everyone as they went in and out of different stores. 

In a sporting goods store Kevin started complaining about their lack of exy apparel. 

"No one in this country plays exy," said Aaron. 

"They should," argued Kevin. "It's the best sport ever." 

"Stop trying to make exy happen," said Andrew boredly. "It's never going to happen." 

Kevin pouted and pretended he hadn't heard. 

The next store was a men's clothing store. "Nicky," said Andrew, making a shooing motion with his hand. Nicky squealed excitedly and dragged Neil away. 

The next thing he knew, Neil found himself pushed into a fitting room with an armful of clothing. "I don't need this," he protested. 

"Uh, no offense, but you can't be seen with us when you look like a raggedy homeless child," argued Nicky. "If you're going to be a part of our family you have to look the part." 

"Part of the family?" 

"What did you think was happening here?" asked Nicky. "Right now you're on probation, but you really should put an effort in to look as fabulous as the rest of us." 

"You said the others were drab." 

"Well, yeah, but their clothes at least fit properly and are in style," said Nicky. "Now be quiet and grateful. I'm an amazing stylist and you're lucky to have me." 

"My uncle won't let me spend this much money," said Neil, looking at the price tags. 

"It's on us." 

"No," said Neil. "I can't accept this." 

Nicky made a dismissive noise. "Let Andrew give you things if he wants to. He's not normally the gifting type, so it's kind of fun." 

"I can't be bought," said Neil sharply. 

Nicky laughed. "Oh, you're a suspicious little bugger, aren't you? No one's trying to buy you. This is what friends do." 

Neil reluctantly gave in, allowing Nicky to purchase several outfits for him. He was still listening to Nicky give him advice on which clothes to wear in which combinations when they met up with the others near the fountain at the centre of the mall. Looking around Neil recognized a large number of fellow Palmetto High students. 

Nicky sucked in a breath. "Don't look now, Aaron, but Katelyn is here with that grody Chris Hawking," he said nodding towards a pretty cheerleader who was sitting nearby with a gigantic jock-type. 

"Are you still stuck on her?" asked Andrew derisively. 

" _No_ ," said Aaron, unconvincingly. 

"Maybe you should go talk to her, Andrew, and see if she can tell you're not Aaron," suggested Nicky. 

"Okay." 

" _No_ ," said Aaron again, more forcefully this time. "Let's just go home." 

Andrew shrugged, and spun on his heel to head towards the parking lot. 

Neil expected that he'd be dropped at his uncle's house, or maybe back at school, so he was surprised when Andrew skidded to a halt in front of what could only be described as a McMansion. 

"Wow," said Neil. "Your house is really nice." 

"I know, right," agreed Nicky, despite the fact that it wasn't his house. "Aunt Tilda did pretty well for herself. The twins' stepfather is loaded." 

"Do you live here, too?" 

"Me?" asked Nicky. "Not technically. But my parents don't really approve of my lifestyle choices, so I spend more time here than at their house." 

Andrew led them into the house, not even reacting to the slight blonde woman who came to greet them, brushing past her as if he didn't see her. 

"Hi boys!" she said. 

"Hello, Mrs. Minyard," greeted Kevin politely. 

"Oh, you brought someone new!" she cooed upon spying Neil. "You're cute! I'm the twins' mom, let me know if you need anything." 

"We're just headed upstairs, Auntie T," said Nicky. 

"I'll make you some cocktails!" she chirped and disappeared into the kitchen. 

Andrew led them into a large bedroom, where everyone but Neil split off into their own interests. Kevin hooked his phone up to a speaker that started pumping music at them, Aaron settled into an armchair and didn't once look up from his phone, Nicky stood in front of a full length mirror and started making faces at himself, and Andrew stretched across the bed with a paperback. Neil hovered hesitantly on the sidelines, reading titles off the bookshelf and responding to Nicky's lighthearted chatter. 

Mrs. Minyard showed up before long, carrying a tray of fancy drinks. 

"Uh, is there alcohol in this?" asked Neil with trepidation. He had no interest in getting drunk around these people he barely knew. 

"Oh, God, no honey," said Mrs. Minyard. "What kind of mother do you think I am?" 

Neil just eyed the fairly obvious bottle of whisky sitting in plain sight in the bookcase and took a sip of the drink, which seemed to be mostly fruit juice. 

"No alcohol, perhaps, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were drugs," said Andrew lightly. Neil almost spat out his drink. 

Mrs. Minyard flushed and gave a forced laugh. "I'm not a drug pusher, Andrew dear, we've been over this." 

"My mistake," said Andrew, taking one of the offered drinks. "Of course, it would be useful," he said to Neil. 

"What would?" 

"If she'd drugged your drink we could interrogate you and you'd spill all your secrets." 

Neil made himself laugh. "I don't have any secrets," he said, which was mostly true. He didn't really want Andrew to know that Dan and Matt wanted him to loosen Andrew's control of his family. "I am much less interesting than you keep insinuating that I am." 

"Well, we'll see about that, won't we?" asked Andrew. 

* * *

After that, Neil seemed to be accepted as a permanent member of the Monsters. Nicky continued to smile broadly whenever he saw him, Kevin decided that since running was an essential part of exy that Neil should take up the sport, and Aaron… continued to ignore his existence, mostly. Andrew started seeking him out sometimes to have conversations that seemed like chess matches where Neil hadn't been told all the rules. 

Although he was spending most of his free time and lunches with Andrew's lot, he still made time for Dan and Matt, not wanting to neglect the first friends he'd ever made. They were interested to hear about the inner workings of the Monsters, and kept badgering Neil to try to erode Andrew's power. 

"I'm joining the mathletes," Neil announced at lunch on day. 

"Why?" said Nicky in dismay. "That's social suicide." 

"Because I'm good at math," said Neil with a shrug. "And Ms. Winfield said it would be good for my college applications to have extracurriculars." He directed that pointed comment towards Aaron, who he knew wanted to go into pre-med. "I was thinking of trying out for lacrosse in the spring," he continued for Kevin's benefit. 

Nicky pouted. "You'll have less time for us." 

"You could also take up an extracurricular," suggested Neil. "Like the Student Activities Committee." 

Andrew was watching him, his expression blank but vaguely amused. 

Nicky shot an uncomfortable glance towards Andrew, but it was Aaron who spoke up. "We don't socialize." 

"It would probably be easier to get dates with pretty cheerleaders if you did," Neil pointed out. 

Andrew leaned forwards slightly. "You are being a troublemaker," he said. 

"Are you going to do anything about it?" asked Neil. "Tell me I can't join the mathletes?" Until he asked, he hadn't realized that that was what he wanted. In the time he'd spent with these people, he'd learned that Andrew kept such a tight grip on Aaron, Nicky, and Kevin because he wanted to protect them, because they were important to him. He found himself wanting to be important to Andrew, too. 

"No," replied Andrew. 

"Why not?" asked Neil, barely able to keep the frustration out of his voice. This wasn't the first time that Andrew had ceded to Neil's wishes. Why did he keep letting Neil get away with things that he wouldn't from the others? 

Andrew just shook his head. "Sometimes you're very stupid," he said. 

Later, Neil ranted to Dan and Matt about Andrew letting him do whatever he wanted. They shared a confused look. 

"But… that's good?" tried Matt. 

"They don't consider me to be one of them," said Neil. 

"I thought you didn't want to be one of them?" said Dan. 

"Well… I don't," said Neil slowly. 

"Then what's the problem?" asked Matt. 

"I don't know," said Neil in frustration. 

What Neil couldn't articulate was that he wanted Andrew to be as distracted by him as he was by Andrew. He spent at least ninety percent of his time thinking about Andrew and whenever he wasn't talking about Andrew to Matt or Dan or Nicky or Kevin he was hoping that they would bring him up. He'd never felt about anyone this way before and he didn't know what to do. 

In early October, Kevin had business cards made that read 'Kevin Day: Badass MC and Exy Enthusiast' and decided that he was going to audition for the fall talent show. He ended up enlisting Neil's help to convince Andrew it was a good idea, which he did without much trouble. 

Neil went with Nicky to watch Kevin's audition, Andrew and Aaron showing no interest in attending. 

The first girl on stage sang a song which was vaguely familiar to Neil. 

"Do you even know who originally sang this?" Nicky asked. 

"Beyonce?" guessed Neil, picking a random singer that he'd heard of. 

Nicky chuckled fondly. "I love you. You're like a Martian." 

Next up was a group of girls dancing provocatively, followed by a boy doing some magic tricks. 

Nicky elbowed Neil in the ribs. "Kevin's up next," he said. 

Kevin, it turned out, was performing a rap song. "All you sucka MCs ain't got nothing on me..." it started. 

Neil raised an eyebrow. 

"I helped him write it," said Nicky proudly. "Isn't it great?" 

"It's certainly something," said Neil, leaning forward to hear the lyrics. 

"...make love to your woman on the bathroom floor. I don't play it like Shaggy, you'll know it was me, 'cause the next time you see her she'll be like, 'Oh! Kevin D!'" 

The music cut off. "Thank you, Kevin, that's enough," said Mr. Wymack dryly. 

"The D stands for his penis," Nicky whispered to Neil, who snorted. 

Kevin immediately started protesting Mr. Wymack cutting his act short. 

"Your lyrics are hardly appropriate for a school setting," sighed Mr. Wymack. 

"This is a case of censorship!" Kevin said imperiously. "And I don't think that my _mother_ , the inventor of _exy_ , will be very happy about to hear about this." 

Mr. Wymack just pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. 

"Despite the overall awfulness, I'm glad I got Andrew to let Kevin do this," said Neil. 

"How did you manage that, by the way?" 

Neil shrugged. "I asked." 

"I ask him for things all the time," said Nicky wistfully. "It always ends in violence." 

"He wears pink on Wednesdays," Neil said. 

"Fine, _one_ time he said yes. What's your secret?" 

"I don't have a secret," protested Neil. 

"It almost makes me think that he wants to suck _your_ D," muttered Nicky. 

That brought Neil up short. "Oh," he said, his own preoccupation and Andrew's behaviour suddenly making sense. " _Oh_." 

* * *

It came to a head just before Halloween. Neil tracked Andrew down to ask what he was planning on dressing up as for the party that one of their classmates was throwing. 

"I'm undecided," said Andrew. "Why?" 

"I just figured we should coordinate," said Neil. "Since you like me and all." 

"I hate you," corrected Andrew. 

Neil knew that his expression successfully conveyed his blatant disbelief. 

"Doesn't mean I wouldn't blow you," muttered Andrew, looking away. 

"Okay," said Neil. 

"What do you mean, okay?" 

"I mean okay," said Neil. "I'm not quite ready for that, precisely, but kissing and stuff would be fine." 

Andrew looked truly taken off guard. "You don't swing," he said. 

"You're really underestimating how much time I spend thinking about you," said Neil. 

Andrew studied him intensely. "So if I asked to kiss you…?" 

"I'd say yes," confirmed Neil. 

* * *

"Shut up," said Nicky, the Monday following the Halloween party where Neil had spent almost the entire time making out with Andrew. "Shut up!" 

"I didn't say anything," said Neil. 

Nicky scoffed. "You and _Andrew_?" he said. 

"Yup," said Neil, knowing he sounded smug. 

"Shut up!" repeated Nicky. "There's _no way_." 

"What can I say? It turns out my swing needs someone specific to push it." 

"Does Aaron also get it going?" asked Nicky, his brown wrinkled in confusion. 

"Ew." 

"I guess our love wasn't meant to be," sighed Nicky dramatically. "You should come out with me this weekend, help me find someone to ease my heartbreak." 

Neil smiled, thinking about the smell of cigarettes and the feel Andrew's mouth against his. "Can't," he said lightly. "I've got plans." 

Nicky's mouth dropped open. "Boo," he whined, "you whore." 

**Author's Note:**

> I can be found on tumblr [@gluupor](http://gluupor.tumblr.com).


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